Hankamer Treasure Room

Charles J. Connick Associates, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts

This window is devoted to Cleon, who is surrounded by his achievements and confined by the dark clouds of an incomplete pagan philosophy through which breaks "Paulus" the dawn of Christianity. Toward the bottom of the window, the angels with crystal balls symbolize the future. The lily border--"Lily on lily, that o'erlaced the sea"--is interspersed with symbols of painting, music (the lyre in the middle), and sculpture at the top; the "rose-blood flower" and fountains on the sides; and the Sun God and Zeus are portrayed at the bottom.

Excerpt from Robert Browning's
"Cleon"

     Man might live at first
The animal life: but is there nothing more?
In due time, let him critically learn
How he lives; and, the more he gets to know
Of his own life's adaptabilities,
The more joy-giving will his life become.
Thus man, who hath this quality, is best.

I dare at times imagine to my need
Some future state revealed to us by Zeus,
Unlimited in capability
For joy, as this is in desire for joy.

Gift of Frederick W. Schumacher

Charles J. Connick Associates, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts

Central on a wall of three windows in the Hankamer Treasure Room is a dominant window devoted to the magnificent theme of "A Grammarian's Funeral." The speaker of the poem is a disciple of an accomplished grammarian who has recently died. A choir of disciples bears the body of their master to its appropriate burial place, the citadel on the highest mountain peak, amid a rain of meteors, lightning, and circling stars.

The foliated branches of the Tree of Knowledge, enriching the field, outline medallion shapes of standing scholarly figures who hold scrolls and pens--each scroll inscribed with Shakespeare's familiar heraldic symbol, the spear, in recognition of the donor's attainments in Shakespearean research. The Tree of Knowledge further flowers in lovely little rosettes in which sparkling nuggets of rare old Sandwich Glass are introduced.

Beside the standing figures are four studious young people, while Rhetoric, Dialectic, Geometry, and Arithmetic are inscribed on scrolls held by kneeling figures in the four corners of the window.

Additional symbols in the border are (at the top), the lash, a traditional emblem of grammar; and inscribed on open books (at the sides), the first letters of the alphabet ABC, accompanied by DE, HOTI and OUN (Greek particles that present difficulty for students: De = towards; Hoti = that; Oun = therefore). Fittingly, the word "Grammar" is centrally featured in the window.

Please note when viewing the window: the stained glass artisans had difficulty with the Greek particles as well--inserting OUM, rather than OUN.

Excerpt from Robert Browning's
"A Grammarian's Funeral"

All the peaks soar, but one the rest excels;
   Clouds overcome it;
No! yonder sparkle is the citadel's
   Circling its summit.
Thither our path lies; wind we up the heights;
   Wait ye the warning?
Our low life was the level's and the night's;
   He's for the morning.
Step to a tune, square chests, erect each head,
   'Ware the beholders!
This is our master, famous, calm and dead,
   Borne on our shoulders.

Stars come and go! Let joy break with the storm,
Peace let the dew send!
Lofty designs must close in like effects:
Loftily lying,
Leave him--still loftier than the world suspects,
Living and dying.

In memoriam Charles William Wallace, 1865 - 1932
Distinguished Scholar and Author

Gift of Dr. Huldah A. Berggren Wallace

Charles J. Connick Associates, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts

The dominant figure of Shakespeare plucks a rose under the sign of The Mermaid, an old tavern in Bread Street, London, renowned in song and story. His contemporaries are represented at a table nearby. Legend has it that Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, Sir Walter Raleigh, John Donne, and Francis Beaumont would meet Shakespeare there for food, ale, and literary conversation.

In the lower half of the window, the angel figures hold symbols of Brother Sun and Sister Moon, and placed throughout the morning glory border motif are symbols related to images in the poem--a sunrise, the anchor of hope, and the barred portal. The text in the window, beginning "I find earth not gray but rosy . . .," is from the twelfth stanza and symbolizes the poem's optimism.

Excerpt from Robert Browning's
"At the 'Mermaid'"

Here's my work: does work discover--
   What was rest from work--my life?
Did I live man's hater, lover?
   Leave the world at peace, at strife?
Call earth ugliness or beauty?
   See things there in large or small?

I find earth not gray but rosy,
Heaven not grim but fair of hue.
Do I stoop? I pluck a posy.
Do I stand and stare? All's blue.

Honoring Alice Louise Mosley, Horace Reuel Nash, Ruth Mitchell Porter, Rufus Wilson Nash, Eleanor Frances Reeves

Gift of Louise Higginbotham Nash and
Elihu Reuel Nash, Jr.

Charles J. Connick Associates, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts

Imagery in this window was inspired by lines found in Part II of Paracelsus. The dominating medallion is devoted to the Italian poet Aprile's appearance to the student Paracelsus, "How he stands with eve's last sunbeam staying on his hair." Near the end of their conversation, Aprile points upward toward the symbol of Christ, saying: "'Tis He, the King, you seek." In the field of the window is a symbol of "Lake and Sun." Secondary medallions in the window symbolize Aprile's aspirations: "I would carve in stone, or cast in brass. . . ."

Symbols interspersed throughout the border of pansies represent descriptive lines in Part II: "the dog-fish tracking a dead whale"; "and load my bark, and hasten back"; "pyramid and crypt"; "I would contrive and paint"; the "ancient hunter"; the "shepherd-king, regal for his white locks"; the "nymph, supposed the sweet soul of a woodland tree"; "music, breathing mysterious motions of the soul"; and "I went far."

Excerpt from Robert Browning's
Paracelsus, Part I

Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise
From outward things, whate'er you may believe.
There is an inmost centre in us all,
Where truth abides in fulness; and around,
Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in,
A baffling and perverting carnal mesh
Binds it, and makes all error: and, to KNOW,
Rather consists in opening out a way
Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape,
Than in effecting entry for a light
Supposed to be without.

Truth is within ourselves; and to KNOW
Consists in opening out a way
Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape.;

In memoriam John Edward Hoehn

Gift of Mrs. Charlotte Hoehn

Charles J. Connick Associates, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts

In sharp contrast to the somber Prospice window in this room, this window is devoted to the young silk mill worker, Pippa. She is relishing her New Year's Day holiday in the tiny, hillside town of Asolo, Italy. Her joyful figure is surrounded by four medallions representing scenes--with symbols of morning, noon, evening, and night--that take place throughout her day. At morning, represented below the crowing cock, are Sebald and Ottima; the noonday sun shines on Jules and Phene; the evening bell tolls over Luigi and his Mother, and the stars of night encircle the Monsignor and his Attendant. Pippa goes through the town totally unconscious of the effect her happy songs are having upon the world.

At the top, in the border of spring flowers, is the hand of God from heaven. In the corners are scales of justice and equality, and at either side are significant symbols of the central story. Below the major section of the window, stand the angels of justice and goodness.

Pippa Passes, a Drama was published in April 1841, the first of the pamphlets in the Bells and Pomegranates series. The familiar excerpt below, commonly known as "Pippa's Song," is from the first act of the play and is also the text on the window.

Excerpt from Robert Browning's
Pippa Passes, A Drama

The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn:
God's in his heaven--
All's right with the world!;

In memoriam Oswald Bowman Perot

Gift of Mrs. O.P. Perot (now Mrs. Louis E. Lutz)

Charles J. Connick Associates, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts

Here is a significant representation of Prospice, with its central dark kneeling figure looking upward past the Wormwood Star of death toward the radiant symbol of angels bearing the soul to the gate of heaven. Below are angels of immortality, with lilies, and through the never-fading amaranth border are symbols of resurrection and immortality, the phoenix in flames, and the peacock.

Excerpt from Robert Browning's
"Prospice"

I was ever a fighter, so--one fight more,
   The best and the last!
I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forbore,
   And bade me creep past.
No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers
   The heroes of old . . . .

And the elements' rage, the fiend-voices that rave,
Shall dwindle, shall blend,
Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain,
Then a light, then thy breast,
O thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again,
And with God be the rest!

In memoriam Mae Cagle Snow, William Riley Snow, Jr.

Gift of Dr. W. R. Snow

Charles J. Connick Associates, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts

This window is devoted to symbols of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Michal, and Constance--characters drawn from three sources: the last part of Book I of The Ring and the Book, Paracelsus, and "In a Balcony."

The dominant central figure symbolizing Elizabeth is accompanied by birds and angelic wings to suggest the theme, "half angel and half bird." She holds the symbol of the ring and book.

Constance is indicated in a balcony and she holds a rose, while the vine near Michal suggests "drooping vines their grapes bow down." At their feet are the flaming roses, and the angelic figures below also hold roses.

The border of orange blossoms, the symbol of purity, is enriched with figures of singing angels and birds.

Excerpt from Robert Browning's
The Ring and the Book, I, "O Lyric Love"

Never may I commence my song, my due
To God who best taught song by gift of thee,
Except with bent head and beseeching hand--
That still, despite the distance and the dark,
What was, again may be; some interchange
Of grace, some splendor once thy very thought,
Some benediction anciently thy smile:
--Never conclude, but raising hand and head
Thither where eyes, that cannot reach, yet yearn
For all hope, all sustainment, all reward,
Their utmost up and on,--so blessing back
In those thy realms of help, that heaven thy home,
Some whiteness which, I judge, thy face makes proud,
Some wanness where, I think, thy foot may fall!

O lyric Love, half angel and half bird,
And all a wonder and a wild desire,--
Boldest of hearts that ever braved the sun,
Took sanctuary within the holier blue.

Gift of Delta Alpha Pi

Charles J. Connick Associates, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts;

Although the text featured in the window is taken from the "Pompilia" section of The Ring and the Book, the central figure in this window is devoted to Caponsacchi. The "reluctant dragon" is subjugated at his feet. He holds the golden rose, symbol of meritorious service; and rays of divine grace from the "God" symbol descend upon him. The arms of the Caponsacchi family are placed in the border above. Beside him are the angelic figures of "truth" and "duty." Angels of the Choir of Virtues are designed below.

At the four corners of the border of oak-leaf-and-acorn pattern, are lions of courage, and at either side are guardian angels and flaming hearts of compassion.

Excerpt from Robert Browning's
The Ring and the Book, VII, "Pompilia"

Our Caponsacchi, he's your true Saint George
To slay the monster, set the Princess free,
And have the whole High-Altar to himself:
I always think so when I see that piece
I' the Pieve, that's his church and mine, you know:
Though you drop eyes at mention of his name!

So, let him wait God's instant men call years:
Meantime hold hard by truth and his great soul,
Do out the duty! Through such souls alone
God stooping shows sufficient of his light
For us i' the dark to rise by. And I rise.

In memoriam Earl Brooks Smyth
Baylor 1911
1928 Member Baylor Board of Trustees 1943

Gift of Mrs. Rosalynd Kyser Smyth

Charles J. Connick Associates, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts

Here Militant Saint Michael is represented as the dominant figure overcoming the "reluctant dragon." A small insert symbolizes prayer through the kneeling figure surrounded by the censer, and the Pope is suggested above under the coat of arms of Innocent XII (three golden jugs on a blue field). The lower two militant angels bear shields and spears.

Throughout the foliage border are kneeling angels of praise, the crossed keys of authority, and the scales and swords of justice.

Excerpts from Robert Browning's
The Ring and the Book, X, "The Pope"

     Armed and crowned,
Would Michael, yonder, be, nor crowned nor armed,
The less pre-eminent angel?

Why comes a temptation but for man to meet
And master and make crouch beneath his foot,
And so be pedestalled in triumph? Pray
"Lead us into no such temptations, Lord!"
Yea, but, O Thou whose servants are the bold,
Lead such temptations by the head and hair,
Reluctant dragons, up to who dares fight,
That so he may do battle and have praise!

Everywhere I see in the world the intellect of man,
Everywhere; but they make not up, I think,
The marvel of a soul like thine, earth's flower
She holds up to the softened gaze of God!

In honor of Ethel Lattimore Higginbotham

Gift of Mrs. E. M. Osborne, Joe M. Higginbotham, Jr., Lanham Higginbotham, Cecil Higginbotham, Rufus Higginbotham

Charles J. Connick Associates, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts;

This window is complemented with a lovely symbol of Pompilia, like a madonna of sorrows, which was inspired by lines from the "Giuseppe Caponsacchi" segment of The Ring and the Book: ". . . and there at the window stood, / Framed in its black square length, with lamp in hand, / Pompilia; the same great, grave, griefful air / As stands i' the dusk, on altar that I know, / Left alone with one moonbeam in her cell, / Our lady of all the Sorrows." The angels below bear symbols of patience and purity, from a line in "The Pope": "Yet if in purity and patience, if / In faith held fast despite the plucking fiend . . . ."

At the top is the golden ship ornament, and throughout the white rose border are significant symbols of Pompilia: the tree ("Why is it you are turned a sort of tree?"); the lamb, the red cross of faith, Saint Michael, the fawn "tired to death in the thicket," Pompilia and her child, the carriage, and the dome of Saint Peter's in Rome.

Excerpt from Robert Browning's
The Ring and the Book, X, "The Pope"

          . . . but they make not up, I think,
The marvel of a soul like thine, earth's flower
She holds up to the softened gaze of God!
It was not given Pompilia to know much,
Speak much, to write a book, to move man kind,
Be memorized by who records my time.
Yet if in purity and patience, if
In faith held fast despite the plucking fiend . . .
If there be any virtue, any praise,--
Then will this woman-child have proved--
   who knows?

My flower, My rose, I gather for the breast of God.
This I praise most in thee, where all I praise,
That having been obedient to the end
According to the light allotted, law
Prescribed thy life, still tried, still standing test.

In memoriam
1853 Nannie E. Boggess 1945
1839 Wife of Professor Albert Boggess 1891

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Offa Boggess, Woodfin Boggess, Mrs. Justin F. Kimball, Sr., Mrs. John W. Boggess, Mr. Albert Boggess

Charles J. Connick Associates, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts

Above the significant figures in blue, suggested by the line "When our two souls stand up erect and strong" from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese, Sonnet 22, is the six-winged seraph of divine love, with the flaming heart. The theme of love is emphasized by the angels below and by the many symbols throughout the border of red roses--the winged cupids, the dove, the palm and cypress trees, and the lilies.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's
Sonnets from the Portuguese, Sonnet 14

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only. Do not say
'I love her for her smile ... her look ... her way
Of speaking gently, ... for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day'--
For these things in themselves, Belovèd, may
Be changed, or change for thee,--and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry,--
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou may'st love on, through love's eternity.

But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity.

Dedicated to Mary Ann Kokernot Lacy

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert L. Kokernot, Jr.